Welcome to Rebuilding Trust With Your Body. This episode is a conversion that I know you need to hear. Sometimes I get a really strong pull in my soul to share things with you, and this is one of those times. It’s not going to be a warm and fuzzy episode, but it’s going to basically be the raw and honest truth about what it takes to become an intuitive eater after spending your entire life existing in diet culture. 

We’re going to talk about the parts of this that nobody talks about, the parts that are really unsexy and scary and uncomfortable. The parts that you might wish weren’t true, but it is and you need to be able to deal with it and address it head on. 

Because the reality is that if you don’t ever address the underlying reasons why you hate your body, and why you turned to dieting, restricting, binging and all the other dysfunctional things you’ve been doing with food in the first place, then you’re never going to fully make peace with food because those old thought patterns, those old beliefs, and those old wounds are going to keep showing up. 

Today we’re going to talk about these things, and I’m going to shed light on the things that the intuitive eating space online doesn’t usually talk openly about. They’re too busy talking about “listen to your body” and “food freedom” to have these deeper conversations. And the harsh reality is that a lot of IE coaches that are out there don’t have the knowledge, training or hands-on clinical experience of working with people who struggle in their relationship with food and their body to even know how to go deeper or what to look for. This is why other dietitians, therapist, and even physicians routinely hire me as their dietitian or coach. I’ve seen the depths of how messed up people’s relationship with food and their body image can get, and nothing really shocks or phases me anymore. I’ve heard the trauma stories, I’ve sat with people as they sobbed through eating a food they didn’t feel worthy of, I’ve talked people through an in the moment urge to binge. I read books on psychodynamic psychotherapy, and I go to therapy, nutrition and eating disorder conferences for fun. I am in case consultation and peer supervision groups with other clinicians, some of whom have been doing this work for decades longer than me who have wisdom I desperately hope to acquire. I take what I have learned through all of these experiences, and my hands on experience with >1000 individuals and I pour it into my clients each and every day. So yeah, this is about more than just knowing the 10 principles of IE. If you want to actually heal your relationship with food and become a full-fledged intuitive eater you need to have the types of conversations we’re going to have here today. The surface level stuff is important – you can’t skip that part – but it alone ain’t gonna cut it. And that’s were a lot of you listening to this are falling short. You already know and have done the surface level stuff. You don’t need more of it. You need the deeper stuff that nobody talks about, so we’re going to talk about it here. 

Before we dive into our main topic for today, you know what time it is…We’ve got some Wellness Woo to talk about. 

Wellness Woo is the stuff that diet and wellness culture tells us we should do in the name of health, but it’s really based on pseudoscience, exaggerated claims, or just nonsense. 

Today’s Wellness Woo is: The term “natural”

When I go to the grocery store I see all these things being labeled as “natural” and usually the packaging has a lot of green and beige to make it seem like it’s healthy and straight from nature, and that that automatically makes it healthier. These are also products that cost more than the regular version. 

But this is utter nonsense and here’s why.

Let’s take for example removing dyes from food. We’ve completely lost the plot here from a public health standpoint. The problem at the societal level (and even the individual level) was never the color of the food. The problem is if you’re binging on bags of Skittles or Doritos because you were on a low carb diet and finally you couldn’t take it anymore and you ate the whole thing. The problem is if instead of drinking water the only beverage you consume is Gatorade or Dr. Pepper. It’s the imbalance that’s the problem – not the food or the dye itself. 

And some of you want to argue with me about red dye 40 and crap like that…I covered that in episode 175 on the wellness woo segment and I’m not going to rehash it here. Bottom line, It’s not something you need to worry about. 

People think artificial and processed automatically = unhealthy

You have to understand nuance to grasp this and zoom out to see the bigger picture here because if you believe natural = healthy, then you’re walking around wasting your money, and worrying about things that literally do not matter. You’re also not appreciating what artificial and processed things do for you. 

The ONLY reason that human beings live as long as we do now is BECAUSE of artificial things…such as fortifying cereals and breads with folate to prevent neural tube defects in babies. Or how about protein powder or drinks like Ensure or Boost which are highly bioavailable and easily digestible sources of protein and a whole bunch of vitamins and minerals depending on what exact product you’re using, and these are things that we often recommend to people whose health is compromised in some way to HELP THEM GET HEALTHIER. (e.g. hospital RD work). 

Frozen fruits and veggies often have higher levels of nutrients than their fresh counterparts because they’re frozen right after they’re picked and it retains some of the nutrients. 

Also think about this though…certain plants and vegetables which are natural can kill you. They’re literally poison. There are mushrooms that will put you in liver failure. But they’re natural…

Arsenic is natural. Would you consume that and call it healthy?

I saw an ER physician on social media the other day talking about how staph infection is “natural” and penecillin to treat it is “artificial.” 

Let’s also remember that our ancestors mostly died by the age of 30 or so….and they were eating organic!!

This idea that natural is healthier and better – whether it be in your food, or the lotion you put on your skin, or the shampoo you use for your hair, or cleaning products for your home is ridiculous and untrue. 

Everything in nature is chemicals folks. The dose is what makes the poison. You don’t need to be walking around afraid of chemicals in food, process food, or things that aren’t natural. It’s 100% a marketing gimmick to get your money. 

If you have an example of Wellness Woo that you want to share, DM it to me!

Ok, that’s enough of that. Moving on to today’s main topic…the things that nobody talks about when it comes to IE and why most people quit.

• Intuitive eating stops being “fun” right around the moment your coping mechanisms stop working. 
  • Nobody warns people about that part. 
  • Everyone sells the relief of no more dieting. 
  • Fewer people talk about the grief, uncertainty, and identity crisis that can show up afterward. Humans really will sign up for “freedom” and then panic the second freedom doesn’t come with a meal plan and a guaranteed smaller body. 
  • Use log metaphor from Anita Johnston
  • Discuss impact of trauma and deep body image wounds
    
• Most people quit intuitive eating during the “messy middle.”…and it’s NOT because it isn’t working, but because it IS working.
  • It’s like we took away your floatie and you have to learn how to swim on your own without it. It’s hard, exhausting and scary at first. 
  • Hunger/fullness cues can feel all over the place and hard to recognize before your digestive system heals, and your appetite hormones level out to normal. (gasping for air)
  • Weight fears get cranked up to a volume of 100, and when you don’t have dieting/restricting to fall back on you have to tolerate these fears screaming in your ear
    
• A lot of people unconsciously are bargaining with themselves while they’re doing IE:
  • “I’ll eat intuitively…as long as I don’t gain weight.”
  • “I’ll trust my body…as long as my body doesn’t change too much.”
  • “I’ll honor cravings…as long as I still feel in control.”
  • I was talking about this with a client the other day about how often we want the peace, freedom and healing that comes with IE, but only if it comes without body changes…and that’s just not how this works. 

• Dieting gave people a false sense of certainty…“Eat this.”..“Don’t eat that.”…“Do these macros.”…“Lose X pounds.”
  • Intuitive eating asks you to tolerate ambiguity while you’re rebuilding trust with your body. That is psychologically HARD. Especially for high-achieving women who are used to getting gold stars and accomplishing their goals.

• Nobody talks enough about how lonely this process can feel.
  • When your friends are still dieting…
  • your algorithm is screaming weight loss… 
  • your doctor casually says “just lose weight”…
  • your family praises shrinking bodies…
  • You’re swimming upstream in diet culture while trying to build a new identity.
    
• People think the entire goal is “mastering the principles” or “having food freedom” or liking your body…It’s not. The principles are the FOUNDATION. It’s just the beginning. The deeper work is:
  • tolerating body changes
  • learning emotional regulation without controlling food
  • separating self-worth from body size
  • building a life bigger than calories and weight
  • trusting yourself without external validation
    
• Some people quit because they wanted intuitive eating to help them avoid discomfort – just like they wanted dieting and weight loss to help them avoid discomfort.
  • But real healing usually increases discomfort temporarily before it decreases suffering long term. Physical healing works like this. Emotional healing works like this. Yet as humans we act like we’re supposed to optimize our lives for happiness and never feel uncomfortable. (People who accumulate massive wealth are often unhappy, olympic gold medalists become depressed, without purpose we don’t have fulfillment in life – and purpose is going to come with struggle) This can be one of the most powerful, transformative and rewarding processes if you let it. But you’ve got to stop acting like the uncomfortable parts mean it’s bad, or that’s it’s not working, or that it’s not right for you, or that you should go back to dieting.

And in case nobody has told you today – you are ENOUGH ALREADY just as you are. We’ll talk again soon.

Rate, Review & Follow Us!

“I love Katy and Rebuilding Trust With Your Body.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — who are ready to finally discover peace with their bodies. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode! Also, make sure to follow the podcast if you haven’t already done so. Follow now.